A voyage round the world in the years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV

by Baron George Anson Anson

EMPLOYMENT AT TINIAN TILL THE FINAL DEPARTURE OF THE "CENTURION" FROM THENCE; WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE LADRONES

When the commodore came on board the Centurion after her return to Tinian, he resolved to stay no longer at the island than was absolutely necessary to compleat our stock of water, a work which we immediately set ourselves about. But the loss of our long-boat, which was staved against our poop before we were driven out to sea, put us to great inconveniences in getting our water on board, for we were obliged to raft off all our cask, and the tide ran so strong, that besides the frequent delays and difficulties it occasioned, we more than once lost the whole raft. Nor was this our only misfortune; for on the 14th of October, being but the third day after our arrival, a sudden gust of wind brought home our anchor, forced us off the bank, and drove the ship out to sea a second time. The commodore, it is true, and the principal officers were now on board; but we had near seventy men on shore, who had been employed in filling our water and procuring provisions. These had with them our two cutters: but as they were too many for the cutters to bring off at once, we sent the eighteen-oared barge to assist them, and at the same time made a signal for all that could to embark. The two cutters soon came off to us full of men; but forty of the company, who were busied in killing cattle in the woods, and in bringing them down to the landing-place, remained behind; and though the eighteen-oared barge was left for their conveyance, yet as the ship soon drove to a considerable distance, it was not in their power to join us. However, as the weather was favourable, and our crew was now stronger than when we were first driven out, we in about five days' time returned again to an anchor at Tinian, and relieved those we had left behind us from their second fears of being deserted by their ship.

On our arrival, we found that the Spanish bark, the old object of their hopes, had undergone a new metamorphosis: for those on shore despairing of our return, and conceiving that the lengthening the bark, as formerly proposed, was both a toilsome and unnecessary measure, considering the small number they consisted of, they had resolved to join her again and to restore her to her first state; and in this scheme they had made some progress, for they had brought the two parts together, and would have soon compleated her, had not our coming back put a period to their labours and disquietudes.

These people we had left behind informed us that just before we were seen in the offing two proas had stood in very near the shore, and had continued there for some time; but on the appearance of our ship they crowded away, and were presently out of sight. And on this occasion I must mention an incident, which though it happened during the first absence of the ship, was then omitted, to avoid interrupting the course of the narration.

It hath been already observed that a part of the detachment sent to this island under the command of the Spanish Serjeant lay concealed in the woods. Indeed we were the less solicitous to find them out, as our prisoners all assured us that it was impossible for them to get off, and consequently that it was impossible for them to send any intelligence about us to Guam. But when the Centurion drove out to sea and left the commodore on shore, he one day, attended by some of his officers, endeavoured to make the tour of the island. In this expedition, being on a rising ground, they observed in the valley beneath them the appearance of a small thicket, which by attending to more nicely they found had a progressive motion. This at first surprized them; but they soon perceived that it was no more than several large coco bushes, which were dragged along the ground by persons concealed beneath them. They immediately concluded that these were some of the Serjeant's party, which was indeed true; and therefore the commodore and his people made after them, in hopes of tracing out their retreat. The Indians, remarking that they were discovered, hurried away with precipitation; but Mr. Anson was so near them that he did not lose sight of them till they arrived at their cell, which he and his officers entering, found to be abandoned, there being a passage from it which had been contrived for the conveniency of flight, and which led down a precipice. They here met with an old firelock or two, but no other arms. However, there was a great quantity of provisions, particularly salted sparibs of pork, which were excellent; and from what our people saw, they concluded that the extraordinary appetite which they had acquired at this island was not confined to themselves alone; for it being about noon, the Indians laid out a very plentiful repast, considering their numbers, and had their bread-fruit and coconuts prepared ready for eating, in a manner too which plainly evinced that with them a good meal was neither an uncommon nor an unheeded article. The commodore having in vain searched after the path by which the Indians had escaped, he and his officers contented themselves with sitting down to the dinner which was thus luckily fitted to their present hunger; after which they returned back to their old habitation, displeased at missing the Indians, as they hoped to have engaged them in our service, if they could have had any conference with them. I must add, that notwithstanding what our prisoners had asserted, we were afterwards assured that these Indians were carried off to Guam long before we left the place. But to return to our history.

On our coming to an anchor again, after our second driving off to sea, we laboured indefatigably at getting in our water; and having, by the 20th of October, compleated it to fifty tun, which we supposed would be sufficient during our passage to Macao, we on the next day sent one of each mess on shore to gather as large a quantity of oranges, lemons, coconuts, and other fruits of the island as they possibly could, for the use of themselves and their messmates when at sea. And these purveyors returning on the evening of the same day, we then set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in our boats and got under sail, steering away towards the south end of the island of Formosa, and taking our leaves, for the third and last time, of the island of Tinian: an island which, whether we consider the excellence of its productions, the beauty of its appearance, the elegance of its woods and lawns, the healthiness of its air, or the adventures it gave rise to, may in all these views be justly stiled romantic.

And now, postponing for a short time our run to Formosa, and thence to Canton, I shall interrupt the narration with a description of that range of islands usually called the Ladrones, or Marian Islands, of which this of Tinian is one.

These islands were discovered by Magellan in the year 1521; and from the account given of the two he first fell in with, it should seem that they were those of Saypan and Tinian, for they are described as very beautiful islands, and as lying between 15 and 16 degrees of north latitude. These characteristics are particularly applicable to the two above-mentioned places; for the pleasing appearance of Tinian hath occasioned the Spaniards to give it the additional name of Buenavista; and Saypan, which is in the latitude of 15° 22' north, affords no contemptible prospect when seen at sea, as is sufficiently evident from a view of its north-west side.

There are usually reckoned twelve of these islands; but it will appear that if the small islets and rocks are counted, that their whole number will amount to above twenty. They were formerly most of them well inhabited; and even not sixty years ago, the three principal islands, Guam, Rota, and Tinian together, are asserted to have contained above fifty thousand people: but since that time Tinian had been entirely depopulated; and no more than two or three hundred Indians have been left at Rota to cultivate rice for the island of Guam; so that now Guam alone can properly be said to be inhabited. This island of Guam is the only settlement of the Spaniards; here they keep a governor and garrison, and here the Manila ship generally touches for refreshment in her passage from Acapulco to the Philippines. It is esteemed to be about thirty leagues in circumference, and contains, by the Spanish accounts, near four thousand inhabitants, of which a thousand are supposed to live in the city of San Ignatio de Agana, where the governor generally resides, and where the houses are represented as considerable, being built with stone and timber, and covered with tiles, a very uncommon fabric for these warm climates and savage countries. Besides this city, there are upon the island thirteen or fourteen villages. As Guam is a post of some consequence, on account of the refreshment it yields to the Manila ship, there are two castles on the seashore; one is the castle of St. Angelo, which lies near the road where the Manila ship usually anchors, and is but an insignificant fortress, mounting only five guns, eight-pounders; the other is the castle of St. Lewis, which is N.E. from St. Angelo, and four leagues distant, and is intended to protect a road where a small vessel anchors which arrives here every other year from Manila. This fort mounts the same number of guns as the former: and besides these forts, there is a battery of five pieces of cannon on an eminence near the seashore. The Spanish troops employed at this island consist of three companies of foot, betwixt forty and fifty men each, and this is the principal strength the governor has to depend on; for he cannot rely on any assistance from the Indian inhabitants, being generally upon ill terms with them, and so apprehensive of them that he has debarred them the use both of firearms and lances.